Double Dare // Sky Flaherty

Chapter Three

"Have fun, Jack!" Olivia calls happily as I leave the theater with my new friends: Sky, Josh, Indiana, and Ben. "I'll see you back at the hotel."

I talk with Indiana as we walk to the pizza place. However, our conversation is interrupted when I get another call from River. I apologize to Indiana, accepting the call. "Hey."

"Hey, babe. Have you seen my laptop charger? I left it at your place and I can't find it anywhere," he says quickly.

"You're in my apartment? River, I asked you not to go there when I'm not home." I huff, talking quietly so the others don't overhear.

"I know, but I need my charger for work," he argues.

"Look, now is not a great time, babe. I'm out getting dinner with some people from the cast."

"Who are you with?" I hear something fall over in the background.

Suppressing a sigh and an eyeroll, I say, "A group of new friends that are working on Newsies. I have to go, we're at the restaurant. Bye." I stick my phone back in my pocket.

"Is everything okay?" Sky asks me softly as we enter the pizzeria. "That seemed kind of intense."

I offer him a hopefully-convincing smile. "Yeah. Just a conversation with my boyfriend." We're seated in a booth soon after we enter the restaurant. Indiana and Josh sit on one side while I squeeze into the other with Sky and Ben, who I was introduced to just before we left.

"So, tell us about yourself, Jack Kelly," Sky says with a grin.

I raise my eyebrows. "Jack Kelly?" I question.

Sky nods. "Yeah. You know, because your name is Jack. And Jack Kelly is a newsie."

I nod. "I know who Jack Kelly is."

"Anyway," Ben interjects. "Where are you from?"

"I was born in Florida, but I moved around with my mom a lot. She's a journalist, and she's gotten a lot of different jobs in different cities," I answer. "But we settled back in Florida my junior year so I could finish high school in one place."

"Huh," Josh comments. "Olivia told me she grew up in Missouri."

"Uh, yeah." I nod. "Our parents split up when I was in elementary school. She went with my dad and I stayed with my mom."

I'm saved from further conversation about my family by the waitress coming to take our drink orders. The conversation at the table drifts to stories about the tour. Sky shows me pictures of their favorite tour stops.

"Hey, that's the girl who played Katherine, right?" I ask, pointing to a brunette with bright eyes in one of the group pictures. Sky and Josh not-so-subtly glance at Ben, who's suddenly stiffened his posture.

"Yes," Indiana answers me when the boys fail to. "That's Marlee."

"So, how come she isn't here to film Newsies with you guys? Not that I don't love Kara," I add quickly.

"She's in Wicked in London. I can tell you the rest of the story later," she mumbles, glancing at Ben. Another conversation starts up and the topic of Marlee is quickly forgotten about. The evening is full of laughs and smiles. Before I know it, we're getting up to leave.

On the way back to the hotel, I walk with Sky. We chat lightly, but soon fall into a comfortable silence. I glance up at him. "I like your hat," I state, reaching up and swiping the gray baseball cap off his head.

"Give it back." After running a few hands through his hair to fix it, he reaches to take the hat, but I move it out of his immediate reach.

"Nope." I place it on my head, pulling my hair through the back. "It's mine now." I cross my arms, smiling slightly.

"Jackie," Sky complains playfully. "My hair looks bad today, see?" He motions to his red hair.

"I think it looks fine." In response, Sky sticks out his lower lip and gives me puppy dog eyes. Sighing heavily, I remove the hat from my head. "Fine, but only because I want to. Not because you made a cute face."

Grinning triumphantly, Sky places the hat back on his head. "That's where you're wrong. My face is always cute." I roll my eyes, lightly shoving him away from me as he laughs.

~~~~~
thanks for reading!! I might finally get the chance to write more this weekend :)